"Hmm, sounds like a really good deal to me. I sort of want to see more of this Crafter stuff for myself anyway now that I've come this far." Allen agreed.

"Hold on, don't you need to be able to use magic to enter the Underside? It's surrounded by some sort of magical barrier to keep normal people from finding it or getting to it. Neither of us is a Crafter, you should've been able to tell that already." Nera sharply explained.

"To be exact, you need to have an aura of Extract, which is magical energy, around you to enter the Underside."

'So magical power is called Extract. Noted.'

"Hmm, isn't that basically the same thing as being a Crafter though?"

"Not quite, and from what you told me about how he was able to manipulate the mana of the specter to his will. I think he may be able to extend that to make an aura for you both as long he has the necessary Extract for it. If he did it unconsciously then he should be able to do it once more consciously, correct?"

"Manipulate the magical energy of the specter...I did that?" Allen cautiously inquired, pointing towards himself.

"I would suppose, whether you were aware or not. First off, do you know what we Crafters call "magic" even is?"

"Uhh...it's like, you know. A supernatural power that can't be understood by science, right?"

"Close, but not quite. I'll ask this then, do you know what the Observer Effect is."

"Yeah, it's when just the act of observation changes the outcome of an occurrence. Many people think this is due to the conscious mind having a direct effect on the world, but it's really just due to the instruments used to observe the occurrence tampering with the outcome" Allen answered this quickly and nonchalantly.

Nera turned towards him with a disturbed look.

"Why the hell do you know something like that in that much detail?"

Allen shrugged, "I read an article about it when I was really bored one day."

"Why would you read tha-"

Wit clapped his hands together interrupting her questioning much to her disgruntlement.

"Correct. Now, what if that wasn't the case, what if the conscious mind could directly affect the world? For example..."

He pulled off a triangle medal adorned on his chest. "Let's say I threw up the medal twice in the same exact way both times with the same power, angle, and etc. Everything exactly the same, but at the second throw, the medal stayed in the air for twice as long. How would you explain that?"

"Uhh..." Allen was not sure what to say. He felt like he was being put on the spot by a teacher with an unreasonably vague and difficult question.

Wit smirked, "Magic! That would be the only answer. Something beyond the observer effect where the mind actually alters the world itself. And the source of that magic is magical energy, ether, a veritable dark matter that must exist in order for an otherwise unexplainable event to occur. Ether produces mana which is then burnt up to produce various phenomena."

"And what makes Crafters so special to be able to use it? I remember Nera saying she couldn't teach me magic."

"Good question. Uniquely, Crafters are born with an intangible object within their bodies made from ether known as a Codex. The Codex is said to be a manual for using the skills of spirits that has been passed down throughout many generations. It allows for the control and generation of mana. However, it seems that, in your case, it's not essential for you to have one to at least control mana."

'Woah, spirits are a thing?! What are they like?" Allen asked with strong curiosity.

"Made purely from ether, linked strongly to nature, and incredibly mysterious. So mysterious in fact, they're much out of the range of my expertise. Now, I think you know enough to carry out my request."

'There's still so much I want to know about this Underworld and its magic, but finding them out for myself should be interesting.'

"I guess that clears some things up. You wouldn't happen to know anything about something like what happened to me happening to other people, right?' Allen inquired in a wry tone.

"I've heard rumors about non-Crafters, Craftless, being able to use magic before, but I never paid them any mind. As I said before, you may find more answers in the Underside. Here." He pulled out a small envelope from one of his pockets and handed it to him. Allen looked over to Nera.

"It's your choice, I don't think we'll be able to get in regardless, but if we do, I'm itching to find out more myself."

"Hmm, it's worth looking into. I really hope I don't regret this. I'll go," Allen asserted.

"If he's going, I'll have to go along to keep him out of trouble I guess," Nera stated.

Wit wiped away a bead of sweat on his face. "Great. I really don't like going out in crowded places, so I'm glad you accepted my offer."

With that, the two were set to venture into the Underworld again for better or for worse.

Just then, a slam of a door could be heard from further behind the counter, and the heavy footsteps echoed through the store as a tall bulky man with graying hair and bronze mechanical arms walked up to them carrying a large and bizarre metallic contraption that vaguely resembled a car engine crossed with a blender. The contraption was very wet and dripping all over the floor.

The tall man had a stern expression on his face.

"Wit, did you seriously leave this in the washing machine?"

"Morning Eyrck, yeah, I couldn't really find any other way to clean the Oil Vaccum thoroughly enough after I was done using it." Wit admitted casually.

'Oil Vaccum?'

The man Allen now knew as Eyrck dropped the machine with a thundering thud onto the floor, rattling the shelves of the store.

"You really are a numbskull. If only you used half of your smarts for something else besides tinkering with machines. Come with me, so you can clean this mess up."

Wit grinned sheepishly "Yes, I'll get right on that in a moment."

"Hold on, can't you get your robot maid to help you out?"

Suddenly, a loud yawn emanated through the air. The seemingly stoic and on-standby robot maid began to open her eyes slowly while rubbing the sleep out of them, awakened by the loud noises of Eyrck's entrance.

"What in the world is causing all that racket? Can't a girl get some sleep after a long night's work," she voiced crankily.

"You're telling me she was just standing there asleep this whole time!?"

Allen watched as she began stretching like she got out of bed, her mannerisms were completely like that of a human. In fact, if it were not for the metallic sheen of her body, Allen would have not been able to tell that this was not the case.

"She's a borderline narcoleptic who falls asleep pretty much anywhere at any position and time. What she does have going for her though is that she's pretty good at stitch work and first aid, she was the one who treated our wounds," Nera chimed in. "Also, you may have been able to tell this already, but she's not actually a maid. That get-up of hers is just one of her cosplays she wears when she's too lazy to find something better to put on. Honestly, she's much more of a tv show-obsessed neet than a maid."

"Yep, that's me," Owlette admitted unashamedly. Her speech did not have a trace of the austerity Allen had been expecting from it.

"That does look like something out of Mecha x Maid now that I think about it." Allen observed, eyeing her outfit over again. "A real robotic girl, huh? Maid or not, I never thought I'd see something like this outside of tv, books, or my dreams."

"You know you said that out loud, right?" Nera stated, addressing his observation.

"Yes."

Owlette folded her arms with a smug expression on her face. "Glad to see another person with good taste in sci-fi shows, unlike a certain somebody who instead only watches Galaxina-"

"Zip it, Bronze-face," Nera fiercely warned.

Owlette shrugged, "Fine fine, however, a true fan of sci-fi should never be afraid to admit their fandom. Anyway, I'm actually dead tired so I guess I'll go sleep in my bed this time. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some peace and quiet there." Before she left, however, she gripped her maid dress and in one fell swoop, pulled the entire garb off.

"Aww, that's better."

Instantly, Eryck covered his and Wit's eyes while Nera covered Allen's. Despite this, Allen had still been able to catch a glimpse of Owlette in nothing but her snow-white undergarments and was determined to burn this image into his mind.

***

"Alright, good luck out there in the Underside!" Wit called out with Eryck standing behind him forebodingly, making sure he did not get away from clean-up duty. They had just headed out the door of Trinkets & Treasures. Wit had already told them where they could enter the Underside of Atelier City and where to go once they got there.

"Sure thing, Nitwit!" Nera fired back mockingly.

"Wait, you never actually told me how I'm supposed to manipulate mana," Allen stated as he came to that realization.

"It's just like I said. Just don't focus on what you can observe with your senses, and instead on what you can't."

"What does that even mean?"

"You'll figure it out, or not."

Allen lowered his head dejectedly.

"I give up."

"Come on, Allen. Nitwit's right, we'll figure it out as we go along. Let's go already, we're burning daylight, I've never actually been to the Underside before, I wonder if they have flying mushrooms there." Nera was practically hopping in excitement.

"Huh, you mean flying brooms?"

"Who cares. Come on, don't you want to see it for yourself?"

"Yeah. Let's go before I figure out how bad of an idea this is."

"Mega Awesome."

With that, the two headed out from the odd shop and towards their next destination.

***

They were now standing right before a small dilapidated garden lot of an abandoned building. The flora was overgrown due to undercare with weeds springing up through cracks in the sidewalk and the grass came to their knees. They walked past the broken birdbath in the middle of the forgotten garden and to the back of the lot. There was a faded mural painting of a much more picturesque garden than the one they were in. They wondered if the actual garden may have resembled the painting some time long ago

"This is the place. Do the thing." Nera commanded. "Take out the sculpture in your jacket's pocket."

"Huh?" Confused, Allen still did what he was told and found a miniature sculpture. It possessed the shape of a piece of vine with thorns and glowed with emerald light.

"What is this supposed to be?"

"That was the core of that Specter, a Dream Sculpture. It's probably the source of magic Wit is intending for you to use to get into the Underside," Nera answered.

"The cores of Specters are art? Why is that for?"

The young woman shrugged. "Art is a really effective conduit for magic. Specters are basically made of magic, so I guess their cores just form like that naturally."

Allen peered closer at the Dream Sculpture.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Okay, I can understand that but isn't miasma harmful to living things? Is this even safe for me to use?"

Nera sighed. "Miasma is just mana corrupted by a Specter. Once the Specter's destroyed, the miasma it had will slowly turn back to normal, although you were unfortunate enough to still be harmed by it even after the Expanse closed. It's the only reason you're wearing those bandages right now."

Allen looked even more perplexed than before. "Only reason? What about getting an axe straight to my chest?"

"You really don't know anything about this whole Underworld stuff and you're about to walk in there totally clueless. For your sake, it's a good thing I'll be there."

She was met with an unamused groan and continued her explanation.

"Alright, you see Expanses are like dreams. They can be exited without any physical changes sticking to you or anything else that enters them, as long the Expanse breaks down first though.'

"...And that's what happened last night." Allen surmised.

"Bingo. All of the injuries that we received during the dream went away after it ended. The ones you have now are because you were touching the Dream Sculpture afterward before all its miasma turned back into regular mana."

"I see..that's pretty unfair." Allen looked over his bandaged hands, wondering what kind of wounds were left behind. "Wait, if all our injuries would've gone away. Why did that woman retreat just because her knight in shining armor was wounded?"

Nera walked ahead of him a little and glanced back. "Simple, physical ones don't stick but mental changes do. It's why we still have memories of the whole thing. Pass out in an Expanse and you might never see the walking world again. Now, enough of this, go ahead and use that Dream Page."

Allen gulped and thought about the most effective method to unlock the Dream Sculpture's power.

"Usta! Circumeo!" He chanted loudly at the greenish rock using what little Latin he had picked up from reading books about Greek Mythology while Nera was staring at him like he had lost his mind.

"What the freak are you doing?"

Allen lowered his hand and looked at her with a straight face.

"What did you expect? I have no idea how this mana stuff is supposed to work. Got any tips?'

"I don't know either. Hold on, what was that last thing he said? 'Don't focus on what you can perceive with your senses, and instead of what you can't', right? Try that."

"That's easy to say, but I'll try it anyway."

Allen closed his eyes and tried to block out everything he was perceiving with his senses, the sensation of the warm air faintly blowing on him, the heat of the sun, the weight of his clothes, even the feeling of the stone in his hand. He blocked all of this out and continued to do so until, eventually, he felt something apart from them. It was not like anything he experienced before, resembling a flowing river of metal, amorphous but tangible and dense. When he was sure he would not lose track of this feeling, he allowed himself to tune into all his other senses and open his eyes.

He saw the page in his hand, but could now feel that flowing sensation coming from it, he then glanced over to see that Nera had a hand on his shoulder.

"You ready?"

He nodded his head in reply and then tried envisioning the flowing mana from the stone enveloping the two, and in response, the mana began emanating from it and gradually began to surround the both of them. As this happened, it felt like a thick fog was covering their bodies, but they could not actually see anything with Allen being the only one to be able to feel the mana.

"I'm actually using magic...awesome," he muttered almost soundlessly.

Next, the two walked towards the mural painting on the wall and tried to push through it. At first, nothing happened and they wondered if they had done something wrong, but after much effort and Nera having to hold Allen's hand to make sure she did not lose her aura, they eventually managed to force their way through the solid wall of brick.

When they emerged on the other side, they had to catch themselves from falling after suddenly meeting no resistance from the wall. Allen and Nera pumped their hands up in the air in celebration after they had toiled to get past the magical barrier. They then looked around to see that they were now standing in a resplendent and well-kept garden covered in lush foliage and trees with a giant fountain in the middle. Further on ahead, it lead to a bustling city street.

"Ahh!" Nera yelped as she noticed something moving under them as they approached the outside of the garden with Allen being startled as well when he looked down, A giant monstrous serpent was moving along the streets under them and continued to travel past onto the buildings as well like an animated picture. Neither could tell how this was happening or where the source of the image was as they followed it throughout the path of this strange new part of Atelier City they had never seen before.

Many of the buildings were modern-looking skyscrapers like the ones in the rest of Atelier City, but there were also a few skyscrapers that were made of wood instead of metal, and at the center of the area was a colossal castle made out of futuristic materials with a streamlined design and an image on it that paid no mind to any kind of borders such as windows just like the moving image of the serpent. Overall, the layout of the area reminded Allen somewhat of places like Akihabara with all sorts of outlandish iconography such as fantastical creatures and items.

Similarly, a large portion of the people here wore outfits that were a strange mix of medieval and futuristic clothing consisting of robes, tunics, and cloaks with glowing lines running over them. Up above, the sky was a very dark shade of blue, almost black. However, the area was still illuminated greatly by what appeared to be an exceedingly bright Aurora Borealis stretching across the sky and a glowing crescent moon in the center of it.

"This place is in the Underworld isn't it?"

"Yeah, you're not as fast at thinking as you are at climbing are you?"

"Seems like you were a bit behind the uptake as well." Allen retorted glancing at Nera also being completely captivated by the wondrous sky above them.

He stood there watching her watch the Aurora for longer than he would have liked to admit. Sometime later, he realized their fingers were still intertwined and slowly let go.

Allen slammed his fist into his palm, the sound snapping Nera out of her daze. "Alright, now that we're here. Let's go ahead and find where the post office is so we can deliver Wit's letter. I don't like owing people favors."

"Yea...yeah. Sure, all we need to do is find one of those trolleys, and we can ask it to take us there."

Allen began to look over to see if he can find any but Nera was already pointing in the direction of one in the other direction of where they were looking.

When they walked over to the front door of the trolley, they could clearly tell that there were no passengers inside and that it was fully automated with a place for money to be inserted in order to open the door of the trolley car. After they both paid their toll, they walked inside the trolley. Where the driver's seat would normally be, there was a holographic screen that displayed different locations along its route with there appearing to be an option to pick between them. One of them in particular that caught Allen's attention was "Neo Hanging Gardens of Babylon", but he kept going through them until he found "Underside Post Office" and selected it.

Immediately, the trolley began accelerating through the streets at breakneck speeds.

"It's odd that this trolley doesn't have any trolley tracks." Allen pondered out loud.

"It's probably just for the look, a lot of junk in Atelier is like that, there are even actual horseless carriages."

"I guess so, but still..."

As if to answer his questions, trolley tracks began to mystically form in front of the trolley car with magical symbols strewn on them rising up high into the air, reaching the tops of the skyscrapers. Nera looked at Allen with a beaming smile.

"Looks like I was wrong after all, Allen. This is going to be mega awesome. I've always wanted to ride a roller coaster."

Allen began clutching one of the trolley bars with an iron grip and smirked with sweat beads forming on his head.

"Yeah, the best rides are usually the scariest aren't they?" He uttered as the speeding trolley ran onto the tracks and started rapidly ascending high into the sky.

***

After reaching the post office that was on top of one of the buildings and handing off Wit's letter there, they then asked the head post office worker, Cohen Andrews, where they could find information about specters and magical incidents.

"The Bastion, it's where all specter business is handled and where Underside records are collected for public viewing. "

They both thanked him and went back to their personal roller coaster to travel to the Bastion.

***

The Bastion was on ground level and when they walked in it was like a grand hotel, bank, and library crossed together. There were numerous different booths all around with people discussing important topics and trading items such as bags full of specter stones like the one Allen currently had in his possession. They both scanned the building until they spotted an open booth. In this one, was a beautiful woman with silky short brown hair and emerald-like green eyes.

The Bastion attendant was wearing a name tag that read "Augustine Beaulieu". She was surrounded by fragrant perfumes and candles causing a very pleasant aroma to permeate the air around her, and a dish with a solid perfume jar and a utensil that appeared to be for scooping the perfume from it. Allen noticed that some of the bottles were glowing and wondered if they were actually mana containers.

"How may I be of assistance to you two today?" She inquired in a cordially serene voice.

"Uh...we would like to ask about any information about unusual specter incidents and the Grim Reaper." Allen stammered out sheepishly captivated by the attendant's enchanting presence.

"Is that so? Are you two aspiring Traversers?" Augustine Beaulieu asked.

Allen was not sure how to answer while Nera immediately replied, "Yes."

"Magnificent. It's always great to see determined young people trying to make a difference while also staying informed about what they'll be facing out there." She conjured up a screen in front of her and started typing on it.

"I have just the right material for you. It should be here in just a moment," she brightly proclaimed as she finished and dissipated the screen.

"Before then, how about a little gift to potentially aid you in your future Traversing endeavors?"

She grabbed one of the various perfume bottles that surrounded her with this one particular glowing vividly and raised her hand over it.

"Poisoner Crafter, Page 9 - Mark of the Hunted."

A mystical magenta symbol materialized inside of the lavender bottle.

"Poisoner Craft? You aren't giving us poison are you?"

"Oh, of course not! Our Craft is called "Poisoner" but my family has not practiced dealing with toxins for over eleven generations. We switched to using our abilities to augment the properties of liquids in a much gentler way since then. It has been hard getting rid of the negative stigma that comes with being branded a "Criminal Craft" family though, but I believe helping people out here at the Bastion is sure to wipe some of that stigma away even if it's only a little bit.

"That's mega cool of you trying to improve your family's reputation like that Ms. Bealiue! You're awesome!" Nera earnestly complimented as Augustine handed her the bottle and she seamlessly handed it off to Allen.

"Oh, that's sweet of you to say. Honestly, I'm not anyone to be praised," she stated bashfully while holding her face and ineffectually hiding the bright red blush on it. She then took a deep breath to compose herself and put back on the professional air she had before.

"Anyhow, I cast an Enchantment on that perfume so that if you toss it at a specter, it'll activate and create a smoke trail for you to be able to track it no matter how far it runs away. That should be somewhat helpful, right?"

"Yeah, definitely," Allen replied keenly.

"Although, I plan to never get involved with those monsters for the rest of my life."

She smiled warmly in response.

"Ah! it looks like the information I requested is approaching us now," Augustine announced as she looked up.

From high up above from the building's ceiling, a massive book steadily descended until it landed into Augustine Beaulieu's hands who then enthusiastically showed it off to them.

"The Layman's Necronomicon, Vol. 74!"

After she handed it off to them, they began sifting through its page, and after a couple moments of looking, their faces were cast over in a shock and dismay which they desperately tried to hide.

"Would you like to be loaned that book? Our Bastion allows our materials to be loaned out to anyone with a valid Atelier I.D. for two weeks."

"Yes," they both monotonously said in unison.

Nera showed Augustine her flip phone to show her Atelier CIty status which caused a puzzled look to appear on the attendant's face.

Name

Nera Vide

Title

Exceptional Resident

Physical

Ability

48

Technique

6

Merit

1

"This device is very outdated despite the modifications made to it in order for this phone to work with Atelier City's status network. That shouldn't be a problem but it seems to also be restricted to Overworld access. Would like me to take off that restriction, so I can lend you this book?"

"Uhh...sure?" Nera uttered while not fully understanding what Augustine was going to do.

"Excellent! Just hold your phone over this scanner and I'll get that done in a jiffy!" Nera looked at the holographic scanner she mentioned and followed her instructions.

She typed a little on the holographic keypad she had and in matter of seconds, the details of Nera's status changed.

Name

Nera Vide

Title

Exceptional Resident

Physical

Ability

48

Technique

6

Mana

Control

0 Mana

Capacity 0

Mana

Output

0

Skills

0

Merit

1

Allen and Nera observed that three new sections of Mana Capacity, Mana Output, and Skills had been added to the status.

"Now, you have access to the status format available to those who come and go through Atelier City's Luminaire District and will be able to borrow books from this Bastion."

"I see." Nera flatly stated with a nod.

Allen furrowed his brows and spoke up.

"Could you do the same for my status?"

"Sure!"

With a few more moments passing by, the appearance of Allen's status changed as well.

Name

Allen Lee

Title

Art Novice

Physical

Ability

8

Technique

4

Mana

Control

1

Mana

Capacity

0

Mana

Output

0

Skills

0

Merit

0

'Hmmn, my physical ability and technique increased. They haven't done that in weeks. I guess I broke through some walls last night. And that mana control stat, I actually have a 1 in it, must be because I can use magical energy now a little bit.' Allen pondered this new status of his as Augustine finished the lending process with Nera.

***

After Nera got the book, with Augustine bidding farewell to the two cheerfully, they both walked out of the Bastion wearing the same grim expressions. They had to decided to skim through the pages and discovered two revelations that changed their outlooks on their situation. Allen and Nera almost wished they were still unaware of them.

'The Grim Reaper is an enigmatic and malevolent being that commands armies of specters and has caused several cataclysmic tragedies across the world. The Grim Reaper is known to bestow portions of their ominous power to some of their underlings resulting in the spread of even more destruction.'

'Craftless who have been exposed to large amounts of miasma in life-threatening encounters with specters may develop the ability to perceive and manipulate mana. In all cases I have witnessed firsthand, those that have gained this ability have become specters themselves within four months.'